This research is designed to describe the operation of a typical reformed civil commitment law in the courtroom by studying questions such as: Is the law followed formally? Is the intent of the law followed? Is there variation in the application of the law by characteristics of respodents, counsel, judge, or locale? To what extent are other solutions such as the community mental health system sought? To investigate prehearing behavior and attitudes of lawyers and legal background and attitudes of judges by including such topics as: How much time and effort does counsel spend on each case? What is the relationship of this behavior to commitment rates? Are the attitudes of lawyers and judges related to their behavior in the commitment process? The proposed study has two main objectives: 1) to evaluate the operation of a typical reformed civil mental commitment law in the courtroom, and 2) to investigate behavior and attitudes of lawyers and judges.